Bound

by Sue Tingey

  I paid them a cursory glance: a youngish man who did actually resemble Obama was standing next to a smaller, weaselly-looking man – Joseph and Gabriel, I presumed. Two girls, both with bleach-blonde hair and rather vacant faces stood slightly away from them – the eye-candy Philip had been so dismissive of in his journal? I almost moved on, but something made me glance back. They were clearly nervous – and then I realised that they were scared. That was interesting: so who were they scared of? Persephone? Amaliel? I could understand why they might be scared of him. Maybe even Jinx, though he didn’t look all that scary at the minute. Scared, yes, but not scary.

  Two older men stood at Persephone’s left; one was tall, well dressed and dapper; the other was slightly shorter and just as well dressed, but the suit was a smidgen too tight, the buttons straining over his portly belly. Investors? Or members of the coven, maybe? They certainly didn’t look like hired muscle.

  A tall, thin man stood slightly apart from them in the corner: the scar-faced African. There was something about his eyes that made me shiver: was he the bokor? In the subdued lighting the darkness appeared to wrap itself around his gaunt frame. I saw a movement behind him; there was someone else lurking in the shadows.

  ‘I did promise you all a demonstration, that’s true,’ Persephone said, dragging my attention back to her. Once again she laid her hand on Jinx’s shoulder. ‘Jinx, my love.’ She gave me a nasty look. ‘I want you to do something to prove how much you love me.’

  His head turned slightly towards her; his first movement other than the shiver since I’d entered the room.

  ‘This woman,’ she said, pointing at me, ‘means us harm. She means to hurt us. I want you to make her rot: make her rot before our eyes.’

  Amaliel looked at her. ‘Are you sure he’s up to it? I was thinking of a bloodier end—’

  She slipped her arm through his – that was unexpected; surely to God they couldn’t be—? No, that didn’t bear thinking about; the very idea made my skin crawl.

  ‘You wanted her dead and so she shall be. Does it matter how he does it?’

  He gave a happy gurgle. ‘Very well – if you don’t think it’s too soon.’

  She slipped her arm from his and moved closer to Jinx, reaching up to run her fingers through his hair. ‘I keep telling you, it takes a woman like me to get a job like this done. He’s mine, and I will prove it to you.’

  ‘Lord Amaliel,’ the bokor interrupted, his voice dark and deep, like liquid chocolate, ‘why not pit your pet against hers?’

  Amaliel began to chuckle. ‘An interesting idea – what do you think, my dear?’

  Persephone cast a look of irritation in the African’s direction. ‘Let me deal with this. Please.’

  His red eyes blazing, Amaliel regarded her from beneath his cowl, still gurgling away happily. I’d never known him so cheerful. ‘Very well, my dear. Do your worst.’

  From behind the bokor there was a strangled gasp. The African muttered something in what sounded like French, but I couldn’t tear my eyes away from Jinx. He loved me, he would never hurt me – would he?

  She took hold of Jinx’s chin and tilted his head back so he was looking in my direction. ‘Make her rot,’ she said, and what I saw in his eyes scared me more than Amaliel, Persephone or a hundred Sicarii ever could.

  His lips drew back into a snarl and for the first time I realised what the others had meant: he was no longer my Jinx. He’d gone feral.

  Persephone gestured to the Sicarii who were holding me to let go, and they didn’t need telling twice; as soon as they released my arms they hurried out of harm’s way as Jinx stalked towards me.

  I stood my ground for maybe two seconds, staring into his eyes, willing him to recognise me, but there was nothing there other than a burning desire to do his mistress’ will. I took a step back, then another, and I heard Persephone and her male guests start to laugh. The girls were silent.

  ‘Not so brave now, Soulseer,’ the vile woman called.

  Jinx reached out, the hands that had once caressed me so lovingly now twisted into claws—

  —then the door at the other end of the room burst open with an almighty crash and I saw Jamie framed in the doorway, my guards by his side. Amaliel shouted, and the Sicarii surged forward to greet them, but Jinx wasn’t so easily distracted: he didn’t look back, he didn’t falter; he just kept on coming, and as the sound of fighting filled the other end of the room, I knew I had no one to save me but myself. I backed away a few steps, then turned and ran. I needed to get the door to the dining room open before Jinx reached me.

  I threw it open and ran full-pelt past the long table to the door at the other end, but Jinx was running too; I could hear his footsteps behind me.

  ‘Please God, please God,’ I prayed as I struggled with the handle. They can’t have locked it, they just couldn’t! They hadn’t; it was my own panic that was going to get me killed. I threw the door open and tried to pull it closed behind me, but I was too late; Jinx’s fingers had already curled around the wood and were wrenching it from my grasp.

  With a shriek I hared along the passageway, into the small lobby and to the back door.

  As I ran through I grabbed a coat off one of the hooks on the wall and threw it behind me, hoping to hamper his progress; I grabbed another, but this one snagged for a second – a second I didn’t have. In desperation, I grabbed for an umbrella and yanked the ceramic pot into Jinx’s path. I didn’t dare look back to see if I’d succeeded in slowing him down but flung open the door and leaped outside, the umbrella still in my hand. It might just help as a weapon to keep some distance between us.

  If anything, the rain was coming down even harder than before, and I was facing away from the house and the light, so it was almost impossible to see. I had no idea where I was going – or what I would do when I got there; the only thing on my mind was keeping Jinx away from me. He’d told me before that the merest touch of his hand could bring death if he so chose, and if he was intent on carrying out his mistress’ will, I could do very little to stop him.

  The sodden grass really hampered my progress: I was running as fast as I could, but I kept slipping, and it was pure luck that I didn’t go down. Then I saw shadows rising up out of the dark ahead of me: a line of trees; I had no idea if they’d be my saviours or my undoing. Maybe if I got in amongst them I could hide out, at least until help came – if it came.

  Arms and legs pumping, I ran for my life, not daring to look back. I was almost at the treeline: they would slow me down, but they might also give me shelter. Above the pounding rain I could hear him coming after me; I was sure of it. Then I heard a grunt, and hoping that meant he’d fallen, I made one final push and suddenly I was in amongst the tall trunks.

  I had to slow down to a trot, and even then I was at risk of getting an eye put out by a low branch, but it couldn’t be helped, and he was as much at risk as I. Then I had an idea and I held up the umbrella in front of my head, so if I walked into anything at least it wouldn’t be with my face, and this gave me the confidence to hurry along a little faster. Where I was hurrying to, I had no idea; I could have been running into a whole load more trouble.

  Then ahead of me I could see a little light through the trees, from the lamps along the drive – if I could get there, maybe I could escape.

  I was just beginning to think I’d made it when a shadow peeled away from a large tree ahead of me. I immediately turned to run back, but too late: hands grabbed my shoulders, pulling me backwards, and then strong arms wrapped around me, pulling me tight against him.

  I struggled and kicked and stamped, but it was hopeless. When I managed to land a heel on his foot he gave a grunt, but then he lifted me up so I was inches above the ground and floundering in midair.

  He swung me around and pushed me face-first against a tree, his front pressed into my back. It occurred to me I should be dead – why wasn’t I a rotting corpse? She had ordered him to make me rot … so maybe he wasn’t quite as much her
s as she thought?

  ‘Jinx,’ I said firmly, ‘let go. If you put me down, I promise not to run.’

  The right side of his face rested on mine and he breathed in deeply, like he was smelling me. Then I felt something hard pressed against my backside and I started to struggle again.

  ‘Let go of me, Jinx, let go of me, right now.’

  With a snarl he pulled me away from the tree and threw me down onto the ground, so hard I hit the earth with a thump that had me seeing stars. He sat astride me and grabbing hold of my wrists, held them up above my head. Too late, I remembered the knife tucked into my belt, but I couldn’t reach it – I didn’t know if I’d be able to use it on Jinx even if I could.

  His long hair hung down, framing his face and pooling around mine, drops of rain running down and mingling with those already wetting my face. I wanted to cry with fear, anger and frustration. I knew I would kill that bloody woman, if it was the last thing I ever did.

  ‘Jinx, stop it,’ I screamed at him, but he had only one thing on his mind and it wasn’t killing me – at least, not at that very moment.

  He hovered above me and I began to struggle again, but it was like trying to shift an immovable force; I was making no impression at all – and then he looked down at my face. I’ve no idea what he could see in the dark, but he suddenly froze, and the hands about my wrists loosened a bit. That was all I needed: I wrenched my right hand out of his and punched him really hard in the groin.

  He crumpled as I scrambled backwards away from him and jumped to my feet, but he staggered up and came straight at me. Shaking, I pulled my dagger out from beneath my jacket. The Sicarii had been so confident, they hadn’t bothered to search me for weapons – I wasn’t sure whether I was glad or not. I was pulling a dagger on my lover, hating that I should need to.

  ‘Stay back,’ I said, holding the blade out in front of me.

  He took a step towards me.

  ‘I mean it, Jinx.’

  Then another.

  ‘Don’t make me do it,’ I said.

  I saw a flash of white through the dark as he snarled. I took a pace back.

  ‘Please, Jinx, I don’t want to hurt you.’

  I held the dagger low and upwards: ‘Fight dirty,’ Jinx had told me, ‘there’s no honour or rules when you’re threatened.’

  He was inhumanly fast, brushing the dagger aside with an ease that was embarrassing, then his hands reached out as if to cup my face, and the little worm inside my head reared up and screamed.

  Something weird happened: deep inside my head there was a movement, like the flick of the tail of an angry drakon. My hand snapped open, palm down, my fingers extending. There was a crack like lightning and a flash of white light – and Jinx flew through the air, smashed through the branches of the tree he’d had me pinned up against and landed on the ground in a tangle of limbs and broken bits of tree.

  I stood there, shaking and terrified: what in all Hells had just happened? What had I done? Had I killed one of the two men I thought I loved more than life itself? I obviously hadn’t loved him that much, not when it came down to him or me.

  No, I hadn’t chosen my life over his. How could I have lived if he had raped me? Death would be easier than that.

  I picked up my dagger and crept towards him. It was too dark to see if he was moving, but I couldn’t hear any movement. When I finally stood over him I wasn’t sure what to do next. I didn’t want to wake him up, that was for sure, but I had to know if he was alive. I prodded him with the toe of my boot. Nothing. I gave him another harder prod, but he stayed still as death.

  I clenched my fists and took a few deep breaths. He was not dead. He was the Deathbringer; he was stunned, that was all.

  I crouched down beside him. He was lying on his side, facing down and covered by a sodden sheet of hair. I strained to hear if he was breathing, but it was impossible with the constant pouring rain through the tree canopies above. I moved a little closer, but it was no good; I couldn’t hear a thing.

  The sensible thing to do would be to step away and wait until Jamie and the others turned up. If they turned up. Then another terrible thought occurred to me: what if I had saved Jinx, only to get Jamie and my guards slaughtered by Amaliel and his unholy rabble?

  I hugged myself tight, shaking, and I wasn’t sure if it was from the cold, my fear, or the aftermath of what I’d done to Jinx, and what he had been about to do to me. It was probably all of it.

  Above the rain I heard voices, then I saw lights approaching through the trees: flashlights. My guards didn’t have flashlights. I prodded Jinx really hard with the hilt of my dagger, but there was still nothing. The lights were getting closer: did I stay and try and fight them off? If I knew I could call up this strange new power at will, there would have been no question, but I didn’t: the little creature inside my head was now annoyingly silent.

  Then I heard Persephone yelling like the harpy she was: ‘Gabriel, if your fucking little daemons don’t find him I will castrate each and every one of them with a very rusty knife – you included!’ I heard a gurgling, wet laugh too: Amaliel.

  Persephone I could cope with, but I didn’t want to face Amaliel.

  I reached out and stroked the hair away from Jinx’s forehead. ‘I’ll come back for you,’ I whispered. ‘I’ll find you and bring you home.’ I leaned forward and kissed his cheek – not much of a kiss, my lips were so cold I could hardly feel them, but it was the best I could do. I ran my fingers across his lips.

  I had wasted more time than I should. I jumped to my feet and hurried away into the darkness.

  The sound of Persephone’s nagging faded as I put some distance between us – then I heard the crack of a twig behind me. I ducked behind a tree, held my breath and listened. There was nothing for a moment or two and I exhaled – and then came heavy footfalls, and the shuffling of wet leaves. I pushed back against the tree as fear washed through me, as primaeval as a child’s terror of the dark. There was something following me, and it was neither daemon nor human: I could feel it.

  It was getting closer, but I didn’t dare look. I pressed back against the tree, so hard I would have imprints of the bark on my skin – then it lurched into view: a hunched figure, almost a caricature of a man. If it turned its head to the right, just a fraction, it would see me.

  I didn’t dare move; I couldn’t move.

  Then a deep, dark brown voice called, ‘Viens à moi, mon enfant!’

  The creature stopped and made a mewling sound. I prayed it would turn to the left.

  It did, and I caught a whiff of something putrid – and with it came a memory: I had smelled something similar at Philip’s flat – and suddenly I remembered the closing fire door. What would we have found in Philip’s apartment if we had been a few minutes earlier?

  I pushed myself even closer against the tree as it turned until it was facing back the way it had come. It made a strange noise, a crooning sound from the back of its throat, and began to shuffle away. It was trying to say something.

  Then it made the noise again, and I began to shake so hard that I’d have sworn the leaves above me began to rustle.

  ‘Luuucckyyyyy,’ it cried. ‘Luuuucckkyyy!’

  *

  My fear for Jamie and my guards kept me going, and somehow I managed to find the wall at the edge of the property. What if I had lost all of them – what if Jamie was trapped in Blue Fire, or even worse, in one of Amaliel’s creepy little glass phials? What if that creature, whatever it was, had started tracking me again?

  I had just stepped out into the open to follow the wall around to the place where it met the hedge when I saw headlights coming down the drive, moving away from the house. I darted back into the trees and waited: there was a limousine of some sort heading up a procession of SUVs, and they were all far too close to where I was hiding.

  I heard other vehicles coming across the lawn. They drew closer to the light and I saw two Land Rovers – so that’s how Amaliel and his Sicarii minions
had got to us so quickly.

  They slithered to a stop parallel to the drive and the doors flew open. Four or five disciples appeared from the Land Rovers and ran to the vehicles on the drive. I thought I saw a hooded figure in black heading for one of the limos.

  The internal lights went on – maybe someone checking a map or setting up the satnav? – and I spotted Persephone in the back, next to Amaliel. The man I assumed was Joseph had turned around in the front seat and was talking to them; it was clear from that glimpse of her face that she wasn’t receiving good news.

  The gate swung open before they reached it and her car shot through, followed by the rest of her entourage. In the second vehicle I caught a glimpse of the scar-faced man and another hunched figure, but it sped by so quickly I couldn’t be sure and in no time at all, they were gone. I couldn’t help but think of rats leaving the sinking ship, as no one even bothered to shut the gate.

  Then it occurred to me that I hadn’t seen Jinx: he hadn’t been in that front car with Persephone and Amaliel, and I’d not seen a figure being carried by the Sicarii. Would Amaliel and Persephone risk him being in the same vehicle? She might; he was her prized possession, her lapdog, her little killing machine of a pet, and I doubted having almost lost him once, she’d trust him to another’s care. So where was he?

  He could have been lying down in one of the other cars, of course, but I didn’t think so: I’d noticed back at the house that Persephone and Amaliel were the only ones who’d stood anywhere close to Jinx; everyone else had been careful to keep some distance away from him.

  Then a horrible thought occurred to me: perhaps I had killed him. I swung around and started to run back through the wood, praying the creature the bokor had sent after me had gone with them.

  I’d lost my umbrella at some point during my fight with Jinx so I held up one arm in front of my face and hoped for the best. I had to try and find the others as well – Persephone and Amaliel leaving in a hurry made me hope we’d scored a victory, although I had no idea how.